At the beginning of advent, Helen and Lloyd sit down with Dr James Tabor to discuss the best-known and least-known woman in history: Mary, the mother of Jesus. They explore how second-century Christians reshaped Mary’s story and obscured the historical woman behind the traditions. They also unpack the rumours surrounding Jesus’ paternity, the emergence of Mary’s perpetual virginity and the long-debated identity of Jesus’ brothers and sisters.

Dr James Tabor is a retired Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught from 1989 until 2022. He is well known for his 2006 book, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, his Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity and his most recent book, which Helen and Lloyd discuss on this episode, is The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus.

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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.